On Saturday 28 March, the Yellow Robin Award for emerging filmmakers was handed out for the third consecutive year. This year, all five nominated films came from Caribbean filmmakers.

The feature film debut from Puerto Rican filmmaker Alex Santiago Pérez: Las vacas con gafas (Cows Wearing Glasses) took home the Award.

The jury, consisting of Bernadette Heiligers, Norman de Palm, and guest jury member James Napier Robertson (Opening Film 2015 The Dark Horse) praised the film about an old, eccentric artist and professor that grumpily tries to come to terms with the fact that he is becoming blind, for its strong composition and consistent pace. Napier: “Although dealing with a profoundly dramatic situation, the story is subtly understated by amusing flashes. Sentimentality plays no role in this personal drama, which suits the grumpy and unbending character of the protagonist. The filmmaker has a gift of briefly putting the audience on the wrong track and surprising him again and again by unexpected incidents.”

The Award comes with a cheque in the amount of USD 10,000, but something even more important and valuable for any emerging filmmaker: guaranteed screening of the film at the next International Film Festival Rotterdam, the fourth largest film festival of Europe and thus a chance to connect with the European market.

Short Movies, BIG Stories

The Jury Award winning films from the Short Movies, BIG Stories competition competed for the Audience Award: a visit to the 2016 edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam. The Jury Award winning short fiction film Distansia was appreciated most by the audience. Congratulations to the filmmaking team consisting of Elizabeth Francisco, Miguel Gonzalez Perret-Gentil, and Kathalyn America!